Electroconductive fabric and process of making the same



Dec. 23, 1947. JQR'AsERO 2,433,239

ELECTROGONDUCTIVE FAB RIC AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 23. 1945 2 Sheets'-Sheet l INVENTOR g a 2 '37 LAWRENCE J. RASERO -Z1r mmvm AT TORNEYS L. J. RASERO Dec. 23, 1947.

ELECTHOCONDUCTIVE FABRIC AND PROCESS OF MAKING THE SAME Filed June 2:5, 1945 2 sheets-sheet 2 IN VE NTOR 3 m v m M w A L ATTORNEY-5;

Patented Dec. 23, 1947 ELECTBOCONDUCTIVE FABRIC AND PROC- ESS OF MAKING THE SAME Imwrenee J. Basel-o, Middleton, Conn., assignor to The Russell Manufacturing Company, Middletown, 001111., a corporation of Connecticut Application June 2:, 1945, Serial No. 601,203 I This invention relates to improvement in'electro-conductive fabrics and process of making the same.

One object of this invention is to provide an improved electro-conductive fabric which can be manufactured in any desired length which can afterward be cut into shorter lengths for use.

Another object of this invention is to provide an improved process of making the foregoing improved electro-conductive fabric.

With the above and other objects in view, as will appear to those skilled in the art from the present disclosure, this invention includes all features in the said disclosure which are novel over the prior art.

In the description and claims, the various parts and steps are identified by specific terms for convenience, but they are intended to be as generic in their application as the prior art will permit.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of the present disclosure, in which certain ways of carrying out the invention are shown for illustrative purposes:

Fig. 1' is a face view of an electro-conductive fabric illustrating one embodiment of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a face view of a segmental portion or unit cut from the fabric illustrated in Fig. 1, and which is in condition for one use in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 3 is a schematic perspective view illustrating the mode of weaving the fabric illustrated in Fig. 1;

' Fig. 4 is a'schematic perspective view similar to Fig. 3 but illustrating a further stage of the weaving operation; i

12 Claims. (01. 139-425) Fig. 5 is a schematic perspective view similar I to Fig. 4 but illustrating a still further stage of the weaving operation;

Fig. 6 is a schematic perspective view similar to Fig. 5 but illustrating astill further advanced stage of the weaving operation;

Fig. 7 is a sectional view on line |--I of Fig. 6;

Fig. 8 is a view similar to Fig. '7 but with the loop swung over to an opened-out position, and is also a sectional view on line ||B of Fig. 1;

Fig. 9 is a face view of an electro-conductive fabric illustrating another embodiment of the present invention; 1

Fig. 10 is a schematic view illustrating the mode of weaving the fabric illustrated in Fig. 9; and

Fig. 11 is aleft-end view of the fabric shown in Fig, 9. i

In-carrying out the invention in the way illustrated in-Figs. l to 8 inclusive of the drawings, the electro-conductivefabric 20 is formed by interweaving a weft-strand or weft 2| with warpstrands or warps'22..,-'The weft-strand 2| is an electro-conductivestrand formed of an electroconductive wire 23 which may or may not be' 2 provided with a covering material 24. The warp strands 22, and the covering 24 of the weft strand 2| can be formed of any suitable material or materials. Where such covering material is to have an insulating character it could, for example, be of glass fiber, asbestos, cotton or other suitable insulating material. Depending upon the use to which the fabric is to be put, the wire 23 can, for example, be of copper, Nichrome, or other suitable conductive material.

It will be noted that in Fig. 1 the weft-strand 2| is formed with pairs of loops or loop-portions 25 and 26 which are not interwoven with the warp-strands 22, and the weft-strand 2| is also formed with loops or loop-portions 21 which are interwoven with the warp-strands 22. A portion of the weft-strand 2| which extends from a location such as 28 to location 29, and includes a loop-portion such as 25 or 28 not interwoven with warp-strands 22, is a looped reach, and a portion of the weft-strand 2| which extends from a location such as 29 to a location 30, and in-- cludes a loop-portion such as 21 interwoven with warp-strands 22, is also a looped reach. Fig. 2

illustrates a single operative electro-conductive unit 3| separated from the fabric illustrated in Fig. l by cutting the fabric 20 of Fig. 1 between eachtwo closely-adjacent loop-portions 26 and 25 to provide a plurality of units similar to thatillustrated in Fig. 2, each unit 3| also having the weft-strand portion forming each of its loops 25' and 26 severed at 32 to provide convenient long otherwise aiding in securing the unit in position,

or they may be cut off. One use of such a heating-unit, for example, is for heating the portion of a camera containing operating mechanism, in order to maintain the operating mechanism in good and uniformly easy-operating condition even at the low temperatures encountered in an airplane high in the air. 1

The fabric 2|] illustrated in Fig. 1 can be woven On a m of usual construction, provided there is added thereto, at least one temporary formingor holding-member such, for example, as 34 (Figs. 3 to 6). The forming-member 34 is preferably in the form of a wire or wire-like member which may conveniently be of piano wire or other spring wire which may, for example, have a diameter of about a: of an inch. .The forming-wire 34 has its right-hand end- (not shown) attached to a suitable fixed part of the loom (not shown) and has its free left end 35 exacaaaao 3 tendingto the left in the general direction of feed of the fabric toward the take-up roll (not shown), as the fabric is wovenpn the loom. A

similar forming-wire 36 is preferably also faswarp-strands 22, so that the various warp-strands and-wire-like forming-members 34 and 36 can be properly shedded for the weaving operation, all as will be understood by those skilled in the art. The wire-forming members 34 and 36 extend along the opposite outside warp-strands 22 aswill be seen in Fig. 3. The shuttle which carries the weft-strand 2! is schematically indicated at 38. Before the shuttle 36 moves from its position indicated in Fig. 3 to the position indicated in Fig. 4, the warp-strands 22 and the wire forming-members 34 and 26 will all be placed in the downshedded position shown in Fig. 4, whereupon the shuttle 36 is moved across from its position 'illustrated in Fig. 3 to its position illustrated in Fig. 4. Before the shuttle "moves back from its position in Fig. 4 to its position in Fig. 5. the wire forming-member 34 is moved from its downshedded position of Fig. 4 to its up-shedded position of Fig. 5, whereupon the shuttle 36 is moved back across 'the fabric being woven to its-position shown in Fig. 5, thus causing the weft-strand 2| to be looped at 36 about the forming-wire :4 so that from the time the shuttle 38 left its position shown in Fig. 3 to pass across the fabric to its position of Fig. 4 and then return again to its position of Fig; 3 as shown in Fig. 5, the weftstrand 2| has been engaged around only a single Asthe member, namely, the forming-wire 34. shuttle '36 is passed back and forth across the fabric 26 being woven, the various warp-strands and the wire forming-members 24 and 66 will be shedded in a way that will be evident from the several successive picks that are illustrated as having been formed in Fig..6. As the fabric 26 is woven it moves to the left from the position shown in Fig. 3 to that shown in Fig. 6 in a way well known to those skilled in the art. As it moves to the left, all of the fabric moves. but it will be noted that the two forming-wires "and 36 do not move, but that the loops of the weft-strand slide along oil. of the ends 36' and 3'! of the wires 34 and 36. Thus it will be seen that as illustrated in Fig. 6. the loop 26 in the weft has not been woven with any of the weft-strands as shown in Fig. 6, is entirely free of restraint by the wires 34 and 36 so that it can spring up slightly due to the inherent slight spring in the wirecore of the weft2i,'to' some such position as shown in Fig. '7, from which position it can be swung or bent from its position shown in Figs. 6 and '7 to its position shown in Figs. 1 and 8.

The modified form of electro-conductive fabric 46 illustrated in Figs. 9 to 11 is formed by interweaving a conductive weft-strand 4|, with warpe strands '42 arranged in a plurality of groups. In

the particular fabric illustrated. the weft-strand 4! is a relatively fine bare wire, and the war?- the six groups illustrated in Fig. 9. particu- 'larfabric is useful in connection with radar.

In weaving the fabric, the weft-strand 4| is woven back and forth between the warps in any suitable way as for example that illustrated, with the weft-strand 4i extending from its extreme lower left location 42 in'Flg. 9, upto the top-1oca tion 44 where it is looped over the top warpstrand 4211 in Figs. 9 and 10 and then extends down to the lower end 46 of, and as part of, .the cable-bar or cable-length 46, and then extends up to the top 41 of the cable-length 46, and then similarly extends down and up or back and forth several additional times to completely form the cable-length 46, as will be more fully hereinafter described in connection with Fig. 10. During this weaving of the cable-length 46 portion of the fabric 46, the feed of the fabric toward the left is stopped, and the warps are preferably so shedded that the back and forth bunched-together looped reaches 46 (Fig. 10) of the cable-length 46 can be twisted together (by hand or otherwise) to form the single, unitary cable-length 46 in twisted form as illustrated in Fig. 9. After all the bunchedtogether looped reaches 46 have been woven-in to form the cable-length 46, the feed of the fabric is again started and the weft-strand 4| .leaves the .cable-length 46 at 46 and is woven back and forth 'toform spaced-apart looped reaches 56, and this weaving action continues until the location for the next cable-length II is reached,'when .the feed of the fabric is again stopped until the cable-length II is completely woven-in, whereupon the feed of the fabric is again started until the location for the. next cable-length 46 toward the right 'is reached. which corresponds to the first cablelength 46 at the extreme leftof Fig. 9.

After the fabric is woven, it can be cut across between each two nearer-together cable-lengths 46 and 6 I todivide the fabric up into units similar to theway described concerning Figs. 1 and 2, so

that each two farther-apart cable-lengths II and 46 form the electric terminals for each unit 52.

The cable-lengths 46 and ii have been describedas though they were woven in their fullyextended form shown in Fig. 9,. and they could be so woven by, having two forming-wires extending parallel to the warps, with each forming-wire extending at right angles to the cable-lengths and respectively extending through the opposite-looped ends of the cable-lengths, in a way similar to the way the fabric 20 of Figs. 1 to 8 could be woven with the loops 26 and 26 opened out in the position shown in Fig. -8 by having a forming-wire extend through the loop 39 thereof instead of weav ing it as illustrated in- Figs. 3 to 6. v

But. it is advantageous to weave .the cablelengths 46 and II with their opposite end-portions 63 and 64 in the temporarily bent-in positions shown in broken-line outline in Fig. 11. andthis mode of weaving will now be described.

Referring to Figs.9 and 10, the weft-strand 4| schematically shown in Fig. 10, between-the arrows 55 and 56 of Fig. '10; is'schematically illustrative of the weaving of the portion of the fabric 40 in Fig. 9 between the corresponding of fabric similar to that illustrated, is about six inches. and has twelve groups of warps instead of arrows 56 and 56. In other words, most of Fig. 10 'is illustrative of the weavingof the cablelength at the left of Fig. 9, with the cablelength woven with its end-portions 63 and 54 temporarily bent-in or extending over, the body of the fabric 46 as illustrated in dotted lines in- Fig-11.

Referring to the schematic Fig. 10, only four warp-strands, namely. the two oppositeoutside,

and two of the intermediate, warp-strands are illustrated, and beginning at the bottom of Fig. 10, these four warp-strands are numbered 42a, 42b, 42c and 41d. Also respectivelyadjacent each of the said four warp-strands are four formingwires 51, 58, 59 and Ill, each of which formingwires is similar to, and extends in similiar-mannet to, the forming-wires 84' and I8 illustrated in Figs. 3 to 6.

Owing tothe several back-and-forth picks which are woven in or laid in at a single location while the fabric is not being fed toward the takeup roll (not shown) in order to form each cablelength 45 and II, it is not possible to illustrate this weaving action by the simple pictorial schematic method employed in Figs. 3 to 6, but a more difficult method must be employed as in Fig. 10. As the weft 4| extends up and down in Fig. 10, when a warp or forming-wire is shown adjacent the left side of the weft 4|, it is intended to indicate that the weft extends over the top of the warp or forming-wire, and when a warp or forming-wire is shown adjacent the right side of the weft 4|, it is intended to indicate that the weft extends under the warp or forming-wire.

Starting with the weft-wire 4| at the extreme extends a distance equal to that from the location 49 to the location-61.

The remainder of the fabric 44 to the right of Fig. 9 is woven in the same manner as has been hereinbefore described concerning correspondingly similar parts of the fabric.

As the fabric travels toward the left toward the take-up roll (not shown), and as the forming-wires 51, B, 59 and III are longitudinally stationary and arranged similarly to the forminglower left location 43 in Fig. 10, as the shuttle.

Bl which carries the weft 4|, passes horizontally across (upward in Fig. 10) through the shed formed by the warps and forming-wires, it goes under the forming-wire 51 and war 42a, over warp 42b and forming-wire 58. under formingwire 59 and warp 42c, and over warp 42d and forming-wire 80. Before the shuttle carrying the weft 4| makes the reverse movementidown in Fig. 10) to weave the second pick in Fi 10, the wire 60 and warp 42d are shifted from the lower shed beneath weft 4l' to the upper shed above weft 4|, thus causing the loop 52 of weft 4| to loop around wire 60 and warp 42d at the start of weaving the second pick, and after the shuttle has passed beneath warp 42a and wire 51 at the bottom of Fig. 10 to complete the second pick, the warp 42a and wire 51 are shifted from the upper shed above weft 4! to the lower shed beneath weft 4|, thus causing the loop 63 of weft 4| to loop around wire 51 and warp 42a. During the time that the shuttle weaves both the third and fourth picks, no warp changes its shed position and the only wire which changes its shed position is wire 58,'which shifts from above weft 4| to below weft 4|, thus causing the weft 4i .to form a loop '84 around the wire 58 only, as part of the broken-line-indicated bent-in portion 54 (Fig. 11).

In similar manner, each of the loops 65 is looped around the forming-wire 59 as part of the broken-line-indicated bent-in portion 53 (Fig. 11) and each of the remaining loops B4 is looped around the forming-wire 58 as part of the brokenline-indicated bent-in portion 54 (Fig. 11). As hereinbefore stated in connection with Fig. 9, while the shuttle 6| is weaving the weft 4| from the location 86 at the upper left of Fig. 10 to the location 48 at the lower right of Fig. 10, there is no movement or travel of the fabric to the left toward the take-up roll (not shown), and therefore all of this portion of the Weft 4| will be laid in or woven in at one location to form the cable length or cable-bar 48 at the left of Fig. 9. Extending from the location 68 to the location 49 in Fig. 10 are six bunched-together looped reaches wires 54 and 36 shown in Figs. 3 to 6, the loops G4 and slide oil the ends of their respective forming-wires 5B and 59 to thus completely free the loops 54 and 65, thus permitting of the end portions 54 and 53 which are respectively formedby the loops 64 and 65, being bent from their broken-line positions to their full-line positions and twisted (Fig. 11).

Any electro-conductive fabrics made in accordance with the present invention may'be woven of indefinite length and of any desired width, and the warp-strands may have any desired regular or irregular arrangement, and the panels, and

the panel-like portions between the panels, can be of any dimensions desired.

The invention may be carried out in other speciflc ways than those herein set forth without departing from the spirit and essential characteristics of the invention, and the present embodiments are, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, and all changes coming within the meaning and equivalency range of the appended claims are intended to be embraced therein.

a I claim: i

1. An electro-conductive fabric comprising: .warp-strands; and an 'electro-conductive weftstrand extending back and forth and forming looped reaches in interwoven relation with said reaches being spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being arranged in bunched-together relation as bunch at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations. at least a plurality of the reaches of each of said bunches each being of a length at least equal to the length of said spaced-apart reaches. I

2. An electro-conductive fabric comprising: warp-strands; and an electro-conductiv'e weftstrand extending back and forth and forming looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands, and each of said reaches being approximately equal in cross-sectional area to each of the others of said reaches; .certain of said reaches being spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being arranged in bunched-together relation as a bunch at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations, at least a plurality of the reaches of each of said bunches each being of a length substantially greater than the length of said spaced-apart reaches.

3. An electro-conductive fabric comprising: warp-strands;- and an electro-conductive weftstrand extending back and forth and forming looped reaches in interwoven relation with said aaaaaas spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches beingarranged in bunchedtogether relation in a single shed of warps at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations, the length of said bunched-together reaches being substantially greater than the length of said spaced-apart reaches.

4. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electro-conductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands; certain of said reaches being relatively-short, and certain others of said reaches being relatively-long; a loop-portion of each of said relatively-long reaches extending inwardly over the fabric and being not interwoven with any of said warp-strands and being formed by .said weft-strand being looped about a temporary forming-member inwardly beyond an edge of the fabric.

5. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electro-conductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back vand forth to form :looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands;

certain of said reaches being spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being arranged in bunchedtogether relation in a single shed oi warps at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations and being formed by said weft-strand being looped about a temporary forming-member.

6. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electro-con ductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warpstrands; certain of said reaches being relativelyshort and spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric,

and certain others of said reaches being relatively-long and arranged in bunched-together relation in a single shed of warps at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations and being formed by said weft-strand being looped about a temporary forming-member.

7. The process of making an electro-conductive fab'ric comprising: interweaving an electro-conductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped =reaches in interwoven relation with said warpstrands; certain of said-reaches being relativelyshort and spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric,

and certain others of said reaches being relatively-long and arranged in bunched-together relation in a single shed of warps at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations; a loop portion of each of said relatively-long reaches extending inwardly over the fabric and being not interwoven with any of said warp-strands and being formed by said weft-strand being looped about a temporary forming-member inwardly beyond an edge of the fabric. v i

8. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electroconductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands, the said fabric being fed warpwise as it is woven; a loop portion of each of certain of said reaches being not interwoven with any of said warp-strands and being formed by said weftstrand being looped about a wire-like formingmember fixed against substantial longitudinal l movement andhaving a free end extending in general direction of feed of the fabric.

9. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electroconductive weft-strand with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands, the said fabric being fed warpwise as it'is woven; certain of said reaches beinz relatively-short, and certain others of said reaches being relatively-long; a loop portion of each of said relatively-long reaches being not interwoven with any of said warp-strands and being formed by said weft-strand being looped about a wire-like forming-member fixed against substantial longitudinal movement and having a free end extending in the general direction of feed of the fabric.

10. An electro-conductive fabric comprising: warp-strands; and an electro-conductive weftstrand extending back and forth and forming looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strand; certain of said reaches being spaced-apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being arranged in bunchedtogether relation ina single shed of warps at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations.

11. The process of making an electro-conductive fabric comprising: interweaving an electroconductive weft-strand of approximately uniform cross-sectional area with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said.

warp-strands; certain of said reaches being spaced apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being woven in bunchedtogether relation as a bunch at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations. at least aplurality of the reaches of each of said bunches each being of a length at least equal to the length of said spaced-apart reaches.

12. The process of making -an electro-conductive fabriccomprising: interweaving an electroconductive weft-strand of approximately uniform cross-sectional area with warp-strands by passing said weft-strand back and forth to form looped reaches in interwoven relation with said warp-strands; certain of said reaches being spaced apart warpwise of the fabric, and certain others of said reaches being woven in bunchedtogether relation as a bunch at each of a plurality of spaced-apart locations, at least a plurality of the reaches of each of said bunches each being of a length substantially greater than the length of said spaced-apart reaches.

' LAWRENCE J. RASERO.

REFERENCES crrEn The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 362,010 Jewlll Apr. 26, 1887 1,697,660 Rehfuss Jan. 1, 1929 1,797,652 I Gilmore Mar. 24,1931 2,375,997 Larson May 15, 1945 2,381,218 Jacob Aug. 7, 1945 r 2,385,577 Jacob Sept. 25, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 13,640 Great Britain 1894 23,597 Great Britain 1913 

